Janata Dal (United) spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member K C Tyagi tells Kavita Chowdhury that after the break-up of its 17-year alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, it is now focusing on nursing the anti- Narendra Modi constituency that will bring all secular parties together. Edited excerpts
After the JD(U)-BJP split, this is a new phase of the JD(U). We saw the JD(U) play a key role in demanding a discussion on the Gujarat encounter-accused IPS officer D G Vanzara in Parliament the other day and then a walk-out in protest along with the Left parties and the Samajwadi Party. Are these possibly the first signs of an aligning of secular versus non- secular forces ?
We stepped out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the time when Amit Shah became the Uttar Pradesh in-charge of the BJP and went to Ayodhya and talked of building the Ram Mandir. Then, Narendra Modi went close to Pathankot and revived talks about the abolition of Article 370 . Now, these controversial issues were kept in abeyance during the Atal (Behari Vajpayee) era. The BJP agenda today is different.
In the past few months, since we left, no secular outfit has come and joined them - only Subramanian Swamy, whose overtly Hindu agenda is well known. We, the JD(U), were the last shock absorbers in the NDA. We still had the credibility to attempt to draw back parties such as the Trinamool Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Biju Janta Dal (BJD). Yes, it is clearly now a coming together of forces against non- secular Narendra Modi.
So, according to you, will the 2014 elections be a polarised affair ?
The 2014 polls will be communal for sure and the BJP seems to be hell-bent on sharpening it - raising issues such as cow slaughter and terrorism. Then again, their insistence on holding no talks with Pakistan; that was not an accepted principle of the NDA. After all, the Vajpayee-Musharraf talks had almost clicked. You can't decide international diplomacy this way.
I am confident that after the polls, the Left parties and all regional parties right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari will come together and the Congress will also be a part of this. But what shape this will take is not clear as yet.
But when you talk of coming together of regional parties - all party chiefs, be it Mulayam Singh Yadav or Mamata Banerjee, are prime ministerial candidates. In fact, your Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is also among these aspirants. How will this be tenable?
Yes, you are right that is an issue, but let me clarify, though we have a potential candidate in Nitish Kumar, he is not a prime ministerial candidate. Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is a prime ministerial candidate but is not PM material. As for the Confederation I was talking about, if Congress was to get 150 or more seats, then it could lead. We will support a non- Modi, non BJP government. The isolation of the BJP is complete.
The JD(U) has been very vocal about its demand for a "special status" for Bihar. At Nitish Kumar's rally in March in New Delhi, he even said the JD(U) would support any party that gives Bihar special status.
Our demand for special status is not a new one. All political parties in Bihar have approached the PM with this demand. Bihar is still a "Bimaru" state. We have made strides under Nitish Kumar in improving the law and order, education and roads, but still there is no industry, no power.
But "special status" is not a bargaining counter. In lieu of it, we will not align with non-secular forces. The 100-110 million population in Bihar needs infrastructure, electricity, coal and therefore, it's a basic demand to get them on the national economic mainstream. We are not opposed to "special status" for other eastern states such as Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal - it's a neglected belt. We are confident of getting "special status" from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
So, then, is the JD(U) close to having an alliance with the Congress? You have been bailing out the UPA on every issue, be it the food Bill or the land Bill...
We are not supporting the Congress at the Centre. We are supporting select pro-poor, pro-people policies of the UPA. With the food Bill, 86 per cent of the population of Bihar will be benefitted. The land Bill benefits our farmers, so we supported these Bills. But make no mistake, we are not supporting foreign direct investment in retail and we will vote against the Foreign Exchange Management Act amendment.
Will you be have a pre-poll alliance with the Congress in Bihar?
It is too early to talk of any tie-up, but we will make every effort to isolate the BJP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). There is a tactical alliance and secret understanding between Sushil Modi of the BJP and Lalu Yadav. In another few months it will be apparent.
However, going by the recent Maharajganj Parliamentary seat bypolls results, it is the RJD that seems to be going from strength to strength. Lalu Yadav's party won a landslide victory.
The BJP sabotaged our prospects there by ganging up with the RJD. This was also one of the reasons why we decided to end our alliance with them. Just wait and watch, the RJD and the BJP will be aligned with each other in some time. Why has the RJD been wholly silent on the former IPS officer DG Vanzara issue in all these days?
You claim your poll prospects are unaffected by the split from the BJP. But going by the vote percentage, the BJP won 18 per cent, while the JD(U) got 22 per cent in the last 2009 polls.
In 2014, the results will be different. The BJP will find itself isolated. In Bihar, it will be a fight between Modi and no-Modi; Nitish and no-Nitish.
Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a "Hunkaar rally" in Patna next month. How does the JD(U) intend to counter that?
On October 28, there will only be babbling; no "hunkaar" (war cry). The JD(U) will lead a "morcha" of secular forces in Bihar to combat Modi; we have a gameplan ready on how we will go about countering Modi.
Between the Congress, the JD(U ) and the RJD, the considerable 16 per cent Muslim vote in Bihar is up for grabs. The JD(U) is being criticised for shaping its policies with an eye on this vote bank.
No, that is not correct. We don't see it as Muslim vote, but we are for secular forces. Nitish Kumar is an embodiment of the secular vote at the national level. He has challenged and checked the communalism of Narendra Modi. The Muslims will recognise this and support us wholeheartedly.
On the one hand you talk of a secular front, and on the other the JD(U) has been in talks with TMC's Mamata Banerjee over a federal front.
See, we have temporarily put our federal front plans on hold because regional forces cannot be brought into a common confederation easily. They are all ambitious leaders and bringing them on a common platform is not easy. We could think of having an eastern morcha with the JD(U), Trinamool, BJD and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha for instance.
But as of now, we are focusing on nursing the anti-Narendra Modi constituency that will bring all secular parties together. What will be the final shape of this front, its too early to say.
